Buggery part 1 – ewww

The players are 1) CEO, 2) GM of the hotel who will be identified as X and 3) Risk Management at Corporate who will be identified as Y.

Mr. CEO,

I checked into the La Quinta Inn Ft. Lauderdale Cypress Creek location on the evening of Thursday, January 13 and checked out on Monday, January 17. I had discovered bites on my arms, neck and legs throughout my stay.

Monday morning: I had asked X, the General Manager, if there had been any reports of bed bugs in the hotel as I was feeling quite itchy and had the bites to prove it.

X assured me that she would report the incident to Risk Management as well as have an independent exterminator come and check our room, number 129. She told me they usually come within the day and I asked her to call me so that I could have the results before entering my own home, as I do know the price of getting rid of bed bugs once they park themselves is very high, both financially and emotionally. I also asked her to tell me either way so I could know for sure. She told me she would, after all, she said and I quote, I am not running a shady operation.

After leaving the hotel, I called a friend of mine who has had a very long career in the hotel industry and she told me they would not get an exterminator in for this situation but they would tell the guest that they did.

My friend told me that they, meaning the hotel staff, would themselves do an initial search and if their naked eyes did not see anything, they would not call in an exterminator.

This worries me on so many levels but she told me to ensure I get the exterminator’s report from the hotel to ensure that they had been called, had been there, and had done a thorough investigation.

Monday @ 3 pm: I called X for a status of the investigation and she told me that the search had not found anything alive. I apologize if this is not the right wording but regardless, the wording she used concerned me, as she never said that the company did not find anything.

I do recall the word “not alive” but this does not bode well for me, and rightfully so.

Not to mention that the exterminator was there within hours. If that’s the case, that is some great customer service, but how many times do we get same day service? At this time I asked for a copy of the report (per my friend’s inside the hotel industry information) and X told me that she would ask risk management if that would be fine to do, and if it was, she could send it to me. Alternatively, she told me, risk management would contact me directly.

Tuesday @ 12.30 pm: I received a voicemail from X telling me that risk management would not allow the report to be sent to me. Now THAT seems shady.

Tuesday @ 3.15 pm: I returned X’s call and left her a voicemail.

Tuesday @ 8.00pm: I tried calling X again, but learned that she had left for the evening.

Wednesday: Had played phone tag with Y in your corporate office all day.

Thursday (today): I have since tried calling her twice this morning, leaving one voicemail.

This has been over 72 hours since I spoke with X at the hotel. I am sick of the lack of answers and phone tag from a national chain. I simply want the document that has the results from the independent exterminator. I do not think this is an off the wall request.

I travel a lot and know the risks of staying in a hotel. It has been luck that I have not had a problem, yet. Quite understandably I am upset with the lack of information I am receiving. I think it is so unprofessional that I cannot even believe I have to write this letter essentially begging for this report.

I have since gone home, and I have washed everything and I pray to G-D that I have not brought bed bugs from your hotel into my home. All I want is to get the report from a reputable exterminator.

I am a marketer by trade and I am aghast that I cannot receive the report. I don’t understand why it is under lock and key, or why this is so difficult to get from your company.

I believe there are two answers: 1 – there is no report, or 2 – the report found some disgusting things. We’ve all seen the news reports on how gross hotel rooms are, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

I’d like you to tell me what I should do next in this situation. I look forward to your response. Hopefully you are as appalled as I am.